Scan bodies are typically used in the dental industry once an implant has been set within a patient's jaw such that a digital restorative pathway (via intraoral scanning) can be created to determine the size, shape and orientation of a final restoration or prosthesis to be fitted on the implant. In most cases, scan bodies are generally fastened to the implant with an abutment screw, which generally requires a clinician to manually screw the abutment screw to the implant. One drawback to manually screwing an abutment screw within the implant to fasten the scan body to the implant is that some installation drivers can be long, requiring a significant amount of vertical space, thereby making placement of the abutment screw difficult in the posterior of a patient's mouth where vertical space is often limited. Another drawback is due to the time required to manually place and remove the abutment screw to/from the implant before and after scanning the scan body. And the abutment screw can be dropped in the patient's mouth before placement or after removal, which may present an aspiration risk.
Accordingly, it can be seen that needs exist for an improved scan body for use with dental implant procedures. It is to the provision of an improved scan body meeting these and other needs that the present invention is primarily directed.